After three years in temporary premises on Pasažas Alley, we are delighted to welcome you back to the renewed CAC Reading Room. It remains the largest open collection of publications on contemporary art in Lithuania – a comfortable space for reading, working, and meeting others, as well as a venue for lectures, events, and occasional exhibitions.
The current interior was designed by CAC architect Gabrielė Černiavskaja. It reinterprets and reshapes elements of the Reading Room furniture that existed before the reconstruction, giving the space a sense of freshness while preserving its familiarity – merging memory and sustainability within a contemporary design.
‘The architecture of the Reading Room functions as a temporary topography of constant transformation – as if the space were caught between the memory of past material and the possibilities of future use. Built from reused materials of the old Reading Room – shelves, lamps, and other remnants – it becomes not a fixed interior, but a slow, organic process of reformation, as if the space itself were adapting to the conversations, sounds, and movements taking place within it. Here, objects do not belong to a single function: they change, wait, and respond. Movement becomes structure, and transformation – the only constant state,’ explains Černiavskaja.
‘The CAC is currently an institution in a state of continuous transformation – in visitor flows, team renewal, internal administration, and programme development. We hope that the temporary Reading Room will embody these transformations while offering our visitors new opportunities to explore the CAC’s informational resources and enjoy a comfortable space for work or for the aesthetic pleasure of browsing art publications and artists’ vinyl record collections,’ says Valentinas Klimašauskas, Director of the CAC.
The CAC Reading Room collection includes publications on art, architecture, and design – journals, exhibition catalogues, artists’ monographs and artist-made books, as well as books on cultural theory and art history. Visitors can also explore special curated selections compiled by art historian Alfonsas Andriuškevičius, the publishing house Castillo / Corrales, writers Chris Kraus and Quinn Latimer, and graphic designers Linda van Deursen and Gailė Pranckūnaitė, among others. In addition, the collection includes a reading list on Palestine, specially curated for the CAC Reading Room by political scientist Dr Ieva Koreivaitė. All titles can be found via the online catalogue.
The origins of the CAC Reading Room date back to 1999, when the Info labas (Info Hi) was established at the CAC. It became known as a place where visitors could find the latest books on contemporary art, architecture, and design – publications often unavailable in Lithuanian libraries – browse international art magazines, and access the internet free of charge. In 2006, architect Valdas Ozarinskas redesigned the CAC foyer, radically transforming the space’s image, and three years later, the Info labas collection moved to a spacious exhibition hall on the first floor. In 2022, when the CAC building underwent reconstruction, the CAC Reading Room opened its doors in a new location on Pasažas Alley, near the National Philharmonic. The interior of the temporary Reading Room was designed by interior designer Kotryna Gurskaitė, who applied environmentally friendly design principles: combining elements of the new space with objects from the former CAC Reading Room and giving many of its interior details a second life.
If you wish to arrange a meeting at the CAC Reading Room outside opening hours or reserve it for an event, please contact us at [email protected] or call +370 607 58 236.
Visitor information / Rules of use:
· The Reading Room is free and open to everyone – no registration required.
· All publications are for on-site reading only and cannot be taken home.
· To find a publication, please use the online catalogue or ask a member of staff for help.
· After reading, please leave books on the table or return them to a member of staff.
· Free wireless internet is available.
We invite you to stop by, explore the collection, read or work in peace, meet a friend, or simply spend some time enjoying the atmosphere of the Reading Room.
We look forward to welcoming you back!